In brief: Katherine Sampson

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With Katherine Sampson, founder of Healthy Habits.

The hardest part of running a business is...

Finding and managing the right people.

Attracting and retaining staff is all about...

Being an employer of choice. Staff have to be attracted to the brand, the office has to be cool, the pay rates have to be fair. You have to keep people interested and offer them advancement opportunities.

What keeps me going is...

The desire to provide for my kids as a single parent.

I admire...

Donald Trump. I am totally inspired by people who have worked hard and succeeded in business on their own with no partners to share the responsibility with.

Mottos that inspire me include...

‘Live life to the max’ ... ‘Just do it’ ... ‘Life is a journey, not a destination.’

One word that describes me is...

Passionate.

A healthy strategy

Here are seven key steps Katherine Sampson took to drive her business forward.

Employing the right consulting company to set up the franchising model.

Hiring a brand strategist to revamp the corporate logo and infuse the brand culture into every aspect of the business.

Setting up a fun, vibrant and informative website as a ‘window to our business’.

Surrounding myself with a fantastic and motivated team. I couldn’t afford to employ the most experienced people, so it was important that they had the right attitude.

Buying existing sandwich bars located in prime positions in prominent shopping centres on the east coast, and revamping them into Healthy Habits stores. This gave us a footprint and allowed leasing agents from other shopping centres to see our stores.

Choosing the best franchise partners to help expand the business. We decided not to take people with a ‘cheque and a heartbeat’ but rather people who were as passionate about Healthy Habits as us.

Promoting our brand with PR. We are extremely lucky that the media have taken an interest in Healthy Habits and this has been a way of growing our reputation, without the cost.